Improvement in method of attaching picks to their handles



UNITED' 4STATES gPATENT OEEIoE.

` JAMEs P. WALSH, oE HELENA, MONTANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN METHOD OF ATTACI-IING PICKS T0 THEIR HA'NDLES.

Speciiication forming part of Letters PatentNo. 72,245, dated December 17, 1867.

- To all whom it may concern:

- nying drawings, forming a part of this speciiication, in which- Figure lis a View in perspective of a miners pick secured. to its handle by means of my invention, Fig. 2, a view of the pick detached from its handle, showing the form of the tongue and grooves by which it is secured; Fig. 3, a view of one form of head to the handle; Fig. 4, a view of one of the side pieces detached of the head -illustrated in Fig. 3 5 and Fig. 5, a view of the sliding collar detached.

Similar letters indicate like parts in all of the figures.

The nature of my invention for attaching a tool to its handle consists in providing the tool with a projecting dovetailed tongue, having angular, inwardly rabbeted, or dovetailed recesses formed on each side of its base, and the handle with a head so formed as to be the counterpart of the tongue and grooves upon the tool-that is, with a dovetailed recess to receive the tongue projecting from the tooland angular offsets to fit into the recesses on each side of said tongue, so that by simply sliding the tongue of the tool laterally into the recess in the head a secure and rm lock-joint is made of the tool to its handle. Irender the joint more firm and secure by means of a collar, which shall slide over and cover the same, and which is provided with anges on its upper side to embrace the tool.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated the attachment of a miners pick, A, to a handle, B.

A dovetailed tongue, c, as illustrated in Fig. 2, is left projecting centrally from the pick, on its inner or lower edge, and angular notches are cut out on each side of the tongue at its base,`so as to form dovetail recesses c at that point.

The head of the' handle is formed of two metallic strips or side pieces, D D, Fig. 3, one of which is shown detached in Fig'. 4.

The upper end f of each strip is so recessed and fashioned as to lit accurately within the recess c, on the side of the tongue c, projectingl from the tool A. And these strips are secured upon the upper end of the handle, on each side thereof, at `such an interval apart, with their upper ends projecting so much above the same, as seen in Fig. 3 of the drawings, as that the tongue a may just enter in the space e left between them, and their ends f f shall at the same time both fit into the recesses c c, on either side thereof, as illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. l.

I contemplate also using` a solid head for the handle B, having a dovetailed recess or space,

When the tongue a and offsets f f are interlocked by sliding the joints together they may be secured by a pin ruiming longitudinally through them, or by any other suitable device; but I prefer to use a sliding collar, E, Fig. 5, which may be slipped over the head of the handle up against the tool to cover the joint and prevent its displacement. I make this collar to t very closelyover the head and against the'tool, and extend the edges of the two sides so as to form iianges mc to embrace the pick laterally and give it a firmer support at its joint.

The collar E, when in place, is secured by a transverse pin, t', Figs. l, 3, and 5.

By the use of my invention the tool is not weakened by the formation of an eye in the center thereof, as in the ordinary attachments of tools to handles, but, on the contrary, is strengthened by the arrangement of dovetail tongue and embracing-band at the point of greatest strain. Being without an eye, it is more easily and cheaply manufactured. It possesses the great advantage, invaluable in miners picks and all tools requiring frequent repair or renewal, of being readily detached from its handle and as readily replaced without injury to the latter.

It can be readily made by machinery, and

being made in parts is better adapted for easy and cheap transportation than ordinary picks.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In the attachment of a tool to its handle, a dovetail projection, a, from the tool, interlocking with a corresponding` slot, e, in the head of the handle, and retained therein by an encircling band, E, a transverse pin, or other equivalent device, substantially in the 1nan- 11er set forth.

2. lclailn also the independent metallic side pieces D, when formed substantially as herein described, and united to a handle, B, so as to receive and retain a dovetail projection, a, of a tool, substantially as and for the purpose herein specied.

The foregoing specification signed by nio this 18th day of June, A. D. 1867.

JAMES l). WALSH.

Witnesses:

JAMES M. GAVANAUGH, W. F. OHADWICK. 

